Science on a Sphere

See maps and data about our Earth and other planets come to life in Discovery Museum’s interactive exhibit, Science On a Sphere® (SOS). SOS is a room-sized, global display system that uses computers and video projectors to display planetary data on a five-foot diameter animated globe. This engaging exhibit opened in early 2016 at Discovery Museum’s annual Space Day event, and is available to guests and groups with hundreds of data sets available for viewing.

Developed by researchers at NOAA as an educational tool that illustrates Earth System science, SOS transforms real-time data from our Earth and other planets into graphic representations with stunning detail and accuracy. SOS displays atmospheric storms, climate change, and ocean temperature, and can illustrate complex environmental processes in a way that is both accessible and captivating.

While primarily designed to increase public understanding of the environment, SOS is also an ideal tool for illustrating data about the planets in our solar system and beyond. Available data sets present photographic data gathered from spacecraft onto the sphere, offering students a new way to approach, understand, and bring faraway objects into greater focus, drawing comparisons between their environment and our own.